The client
Ecolab is a leading provider of cleaning, sanitising and pest elimination services to a range of sectors including hospitality, retail and government. When the company was establishing a customer services headquarters at its office in Caerphilly, it called on Redstone Converged Solutions, to deliver an entirely new contact centre solution based on Cisco and IPFX technology.

The challenge
Ecolab operated out of 17 UK branches before deciding it could serve customers more efficiently by centralising its operations. Until then, the Caerphilly office had been using a Meridian telephony system which was installed in 1994. The system served Caerphilly’s purposes at the time but could not scale to meet the demands of becoming Ecolab’s sole customerservice hub.

“After using one system for so long but needing to centralise operations very quickly, we were faced with a blank sheet of paper,” said Helen Fegan, Divisional Administration Manager, Ecolab. Fegan visited the Call Centre Expo trade show to view contact centre systems before deciding to shortlist Alcatel, Aspect and Redstone Converged Solutions. The criteria Fegan set were that the system should be easy to install, learn and use, and that it should be able to handle faxes in addition to calls.

“Redstone provided top level support with a full demonstration of the IPFX system and its functionality at our head office. As the new solution was being sourced at the same time as major building refurbishment and staff recruitment, it was essential that it could be easily adopted by staff,” Fegan added.

The solution
Redstone Converged Solutions installed and implemented an IPFX contact centre solution, Cisco CallManager, Cisco IP 7940 phones and headsets, and is providing support under a three year maintenance contract. The solution included virtual queuing, preferred agent routing, last agent routing and call monitoring. Virtual queuing enables callers to retain their place and be called back when an agent becomes available. Preferred agent routing matches calls to agents with the appropriate level of
knowledge. Last agent routing checks call history to put a caller through to an agent they have previously spoken to. Silent monitoring and call recording is used by supervisors to monitor performance and train agents.

Another function, Fax Server, turns incoming faxes into PDFs and delivers them by e-mail, reducing the delays of internal post systems and the financial and environmental impact of printing documents. Redstone Converged Solutions provided teams with intensive training on the new phones and system features.

Fegan explained: “Agents found the functionality and ease-of-use of the system empowering, which really accelerated adoption.”

The outcome
IPFX functionality is particularly empowering for the supervisors. For example, it only takes a few seconds to add a new starter’s details and commission rates, whereas previously this would have taken a few hours and required involvement from IT support. The solution also enables agents’
skill levels to be logged and monitored as they develop into their role. Other benefits include simple information screens broadcast via a wallboard where supervisors can see how many agents are logged in, and how many calls have been taken or abandoned. Supervisors can monitor average call duration in real time without having to wait for reports to be run. Through the presence features built into IPFX, supervisors can see quickly which agents are available or away from their desks, ill or on holiday, which helps with continual staff management. Agents can also see which other agents are available, selecting colleagues in other departments if calls need to be transferred.

IPFX is also integrated into Microsoft Outlook, Ecolab’s email platform. This integration of functionality is a key benefit of IPFX and has helped to make the system transition seamless. “IPFX has changed the way we deliver customer service, enabling us to be proactive and pre-emptive. Callers no longer wait for lines to become free, nor are they put through to voicemail. With Redstone Converged Solutions’ support we have a constant, uniform and auditable service through which we can monitor peaks and troughs, and manage customer service delivery effectively,” Fegan concluded.